History of Ralph's Rabbit Ranch
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Rabbit Trivia # 7
While feeding off their mother’s milk, new born rabbits can double their weight in just 6 days.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Does Australia Really Have A Rabbit Overpopulation Problelm?
As you might imagine we get asked a lot of rabbit-related questions out here at the ranch. Anything people want to know about rabbits come our way. We don’t always have the answer on our finger tips, but we try to get the correct answer as soon as we can. One question that frequently comes up from visitors who tour the ranch is: “Does Australia really have a rabbit problem?” The short answer is, "Yes."
There are many accounts as to why Australia is overpopulated with rabbits. The story we were able to confirm with sources such as Wikipedia goes like this.
The rabbit overpopulation problem in Australia is said to have originated in 1859 when Thomas Austin - no relation to Steve Austin the bionic man - released a mixture of 24 domestic rabbits and hares into the Australian wild.
You see while living in his homeland – England – Mr. Austin loved hunting rabbits for sport. When he moved to Australia, he found there were no rabbits; rabbits were not native to his his new home. So Austin had his nephew back in England send him rabbits and hares from England. Once the rabbits and hares arrived in Australia Austin released them into the wild. They rabbits and hares adapted very well to Australia's climate and vegetation --- but get this ... they had no natural predators in Australia to keep their population in check.
Austin believed the introduction of a few rabbits would do little harm; all he wanted to do was enjoy his favorite sport which was hunting" those whywrie wraskles". The rabbits, however, once set free were extremely prolific and their offspring spread rapidly across the southern continent of the Australia.
The mild winters allowed the English rabbits to breed all year and the ample food supply was enough to feed countless generations. With no known predators for the rabbits in Australia the rabbit population exploded. The over population of rabbits still plaques Australians to this day.
It is estimated that by 1869 (just 10 years after Austin released his 24 rabbits and hares) the rabbit population grew to two million rabbits. Rabbits shot and trapped each year have no noticeable effect on their population.
Its a fact: the explosion of the Australian rabbit population is the fastest recorded spread of any mammal population on the face of the earth.
If you have any really good animal trivia you would like to share we would love to hear it. If we can use it and put it on our blog we will send you one of Ralph's Lucky Rabbit Foot Key Chains.
There are many accounts as to why Australia is overpopulated with rabbits. The story we were able to confirm with sources such as Wikipedia goes like this.
The rabbit overpopulation problem in Australia is said to have originated in 1859 when Thomas Austin - no relation to Steve Austin the bionic man - released a mixture of 24 domestic rabbits and hares into the Australian wild.
You see while living in his homeland – England – Mr. Austin loved hunting rabbits for sport. When he moved to Australia, he found there were no rabbits; rabbits were not native to his his new home. So Austin had his nephew back in England send him rabbits and hares from England. Once the rabbits and hares arrived in Australia Austin released them into the wild. They rabbits and hares adapted very well to Australia's climate and vegetation --- but get this ... they had no natural predators in Australia to keep their population in check.
Austin believed the introduction of a few rabbits would do little harm; all he wanted to do was enjoy his favorite sport which was hunting" those whywrie wraskles". The rabbits, however, once set free were extremely prolific and their offspring spread rapidly across the southern continent of the Australia.
The mild winters allowed the English rabbits to breed all year and the ample food supply was enough to feed countless generations. With no known predators for the rabbits in Australia the rabbit population exploded. The over population of rabbits still plaques Australians to this day.
It is estimated that by 1869 (just 10 years after Austin released his 24 rabbits and hares) the rabbit population grew to two million rabbits. Rabbits shot and trapped each year have no noticeable effect on their population.
Its a fact: the explosion of the Australian rabbit population is the fastest recorded spread of any mammal population on the face of the earth.
If you have any really good animal trivia you would like to share we would love to hear it. If we can use it and put it on our blog we will send you one of Ralph's Lucky Rabbit Foot Key Chains.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
We Now Have a Face Book Like Page - Please Check It Out
Ralph’s Rabbit Ranch is the fastest growing rabbit ranch in Midwest; we are located in northern Wisconsin in Price County along the historic Lugerville range.
We recently created a Face Book “Like” Page to go along with our Face Book Friend Page . It’s full of surprising rabbit trivia and entertaining articles the kind your whole family will enjoy.
If you are not a member of Face Book “Google us” or “Bing us” just type in Ralph's Rabbit Ranch or “Ralph's Ranch” so you can get to know us better. Whether you live in the north woods or come up for visits you’ll appreciate all the fun things taking place out at the Ranch.
If you have questions post a comment. Tammy, Clancy, Stacey, Amanda or I will get back with any questions you may have. Enjoy the rest of this gorgeous summer.
Stay healthy my friends … and eat more rabbits.
Ralph
Friday, August 2, 2013
Animal Trivia # 6
Here's some really fun trivia we think you will enjoy. Most people know that Rabbits are land mammals and that they are avid jumpers. The average adult rabbit can jump as high as 36 inches (that's 3 feet - one yard - that's almost a meter) and as far as 8 feet in length in a single jump.
Now if you think that is cool get ready for this. The rabbits cousins the Hares are even more adept at jumping. Hares can put any rabbit to shame when it comes to jumping. Since we don't raise hares we won't get into the specifics of their jumping abilities.
But hear is some really amazing trivia we think you will find of tremendous interest. Most people know that Elephants are also mammals; however very few people realize that Elephants are the 'the only land mammals' that cannot jump at all.
Do you have any great rabbit or animal trivia that you would like to share with all of us out here at the Ranch? If so visit us our Face Book at Ralphs Rabbit Ranch and send us a private message or if you prefer send us an email with your rabbit or animal trivia at:
If Clancy, our science consultant, thinks we can use the trivia information you provide on either our Face Book page or our blog we will send you a complimentary Official Ralph's Rabbit Ranch "Lucky Rabbit's Foot Key Chain".
Now if you think that is cool get ready for this. The rabbits cousins the Hares are even more adept at jumping. Hares can put any rabbit to shame when it comes to jumping. Since we don't raise hares we won't get into the specifics of their jumping abilities.
But hear is some really amazing trivia we think you will find of tremendous interest. Most people know that Elephants are also mammals; however very few people realize that Elephants are the 'the only land mammals' that cannot jump at all.
Do you have any great rabbit or animal trivia that you would like to share with all of us out here at the Ranch? If so visit us our Face Book at Ralphs Rabbit Ranch and send us a private message or if you prefer send us an email with your rabbit or animal trivia at:
If Clancy, our science consultant, thinks we can use the trivia information you provide on either our Face Book page or our blog we will send you a complimentary Official Ralph's Rabbit Ranch "Lucky Rabbit's Foot Key Chain".
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